A Strange Arrangement

I entered the highly air conditioned room and saw Kris lying on an observation bed surrounded by two trainers and one of the Flyers' personal doctors. He perked his head up a little and smiled when he recognized me.

“Hey!” he croaked while attempting to sit up.

“Kris, please.” the doctor looked at him sternly as he gently pushed him back down.

I stood back as the doctor proceeded to check if any bones were broken or any other damage had been inflicted. Ten minutes later he finally spoke.

“Okay, well nothing appears to be injured but we're going to send you to the hospital so they can run some x-rays and CT scans on you to check for any signs of a concussion or any other type of injury. Do we have the ambulance on hand?” he asked one of the trainers. The man nodded yes. “Good, let's get you going then.”

The men helped him up carefully and insisted on him pacing his walking as soon as his feet touched the ground. As they helped him walk to the door he looked at me and winked. I swallowed hard as I resisted the urge to lunge at him and tell him how worried I was. As we stepped out into the hall it occurred to me that Sara was nowhere to be seen. I pulled my phone out to text her as we headed towards an emergency exit when I noticed there was already one there from her.

“Sara:
Eric's here. My boyfriend's a Flyers trainer. Can't explain. Just go with it. Talk later.”

“What the hell?” I thought to myself shaking my head.

“Ma'am, I can only let family ride in the ambulance. You're going to have to meet us there.” a paramedic told me as he pushed me backwards.

“No, she comes too.” Kris insisted.
“Sir, family only.”
“She's going to be my family. She's my fiance.”

My eyes widened for a second as the most beautiful words I'd ever heard hit my ears.

“How badly did he get hit?”

I quickly regained my composure as the paramedic looked back as if analyzing me would verify Kris' story.

“Fine.” he said conceding and helping me into the orange and white van. Everyone settled in and soon we were in motion.

“How are you feeling?” I asked Kris with concern visible all over my face as he laid on the stretcher.

“Like I just got knocked out by a 200 lbs. Swiss man,” he tried to laugh. I chuckled at his attempt at a joke. “But I'm better now that you're here.” he smiled at me.

“You don't understand how worried I was...I am.” I told him seriously trying not to cry.

“Don't worry about me, kid. I'll be fine.” he said patting my hand. “Hold my hand, okay?”

I obliged quite willingly as his eyes fluttered close sleepily.

-x-

“Ms. King?”

My eyes shot open as a hand touched my shoulder startling me awake. I had been in the hospital lobby for hours waiting for any news on Kris' condition. It had to have been at least 3 am at this point.

“Yes!” I looked up at the doctor and adjusted myself in my seat.

“I'm Dr. Dunn. You're Mr. Versteeg's fiance, yes?” he asked me.

I paused completely bewildered by his question when the ambulance situation came rushing back to me.

“Yep. Yes. I am. That's me.” I replied quickly and probably unconvincingly.

“Well we ran a number of tests on your fiance. The good news is there are no broken bones, no cracked ribs, no internal bleeding or anything of that nature. The bad news is he does have a moderate concussion which may or may not keep him from playing for the rest of the season. It's too early to give a time frame to his recovery at this point. We're just going to have to take it day by day and monitor his improvement. But the main thing is he has to abstain from major activity or he'll risk worsening the symptoms. In fact, it'd probably be best if he remains on bed rest for the first week or so. I'm going to prescribe a painkiller to him to ease the migraines he'll have and request that he comes back for follow up tests in about two weeks. If there's any complaints, concerns, or questions you have I'll give you my number. Do you have any at this moment?”

“Uh, no. No. I mean...he's going to be okay though, right?” I asked at a loss for words.

“Yes, of course. Concussions are unfortunately common for athletes, especially in your fiance's chosen sport. It's probably not very comforting to hear but the truth is it could have been a lot worse. He'll be fine though. It'll just take time.”

“Okay. Okay then. Thank you. Can I see him?”

“Yes, he's in his room getting discharged. Room 192 right down that hall.” he pointed.

“Thank you doctor,” I said politely as I stood up and shook his hand.

I entered his room and saw Kris on the phone.

“Hey, I gotta go. Okay. Love you too. Bye.” he said hanging up.

“Who was that?” I asked him.

“Oh, that was, uh, just my mom. You know, just trying to let her know not to worry. You ready to go?”

“Yeah,” I said as I looked at the large duffel bag next to him, “How'd your stuff get here?”

“Giroux and Briere brought it over along with my car. You're going to have to drive since I'm pretty sure no doctor's going to give me medical clearance to do that, yet.”

“Yeah, of course. No problem.”

“Alright, let's go home, kid.”

-x-

A half an hour later we shuffled into the apartment. The microwave said “5:02”.

“Damn.”

I helped Kris by carrying his bag to his room. I set it down next to his dresser. I walked over to his bed and pulled his sheets back so he could get in and get some rest. When I turned around he was taking his shirt off. I whipped back around. I doubted he could see me turning bright red in the dimly lit room but I wasn't going to take a chance. I pretended to check my phone so I could regain my composure. I heard a drawer shut behind me and I peered over my shoulder to see him putting sweatpants on over his boxer briefs.

“Goodness fucking gracious.” I sighed heavily.

“Okay, well I'm going to head to bed. I love you.” I said trying to hurry out of the room.

“Lex!” he said to me. I turned around to see him standing there still shirtless.

“Yeah?” I answered trying to keep my eyes firmly focused on his eyes.

“It meant a lot to me that you were there for me tonight.”

“Of course! If I wasn't who would've been?” I laughed diffusing the tension building up inside of me.

He walked over and hugged me tightly.

“Can you stay with me tonight?” he whispered as he held onto me.

“Um, yeah. Yeah, sure.” I replied unsure of what it was that he was asking actually entailed.

“Thanks.” he said as he broke away from me and walked over to his bed and climbed in.

I kicked my shoes off and climbed in still wearing his jersey and my jeans. I laid on my side facing away from him. I wouldn't be able to fall asleep if I was looking at him all night.

“Good night, Lexi.”

“Night, Kris.”

And I fell asleep with a smile on my face feeling as though with Kris sleeping by my side, this was the closest I'd ever get to perfect.